| 文化熔合 |
| Buddhism: n. 佛教 |
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文化与翻译--Part II 补充阅读--第七页
2. Cultural Factors Behind Semantic Differences |
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| There are gaps between cultures ． But it does not mean that each culture is an isolated one ． Various cultures in the world exchange with each other and seep into each other ， especially in such an age when international activities are so prosperous ． As two influential developed countries ， the British and American culture keep infiltrating into other cultures almost every day ． Various degrees of fusion exist among various cultures in the whole world. Cultural exchanging 1eads to cultural fusion sooner or later ． The gap between cultures can never disappear ， but it becomes narrower and narrower slowly and constantly ． After China has opened up ， Chinese people get more and more familiar to western food ， holidays ． festivals ． and so do the westerners to Chinese ones ． Chinese people become accustomed to words like “汉堡”，“沙拉”， etc ． More and more people regard Christmas as an important day ． And many people ， especially the young ， take for granted to send a rose to their lovers on the St ． Valentine's Day ． Meanwhile ． The Han Culture is not unknown to the world any more ． Rapid economic development of China has promoted Han Culture's status in the world ． And some unique things with rich distinctive Chinese national features are entering the westerners ' life ． British and American people now don't feel strange to Kung fu and jiaozi ． Some of them even like using Chinese-style long time no see to replace We have not met each other for a long time. Translating is the major way of cultural exchanging ． And cultural fusion depends on translating to a certain degree ． If the people who brought “鳄鱼的眼泪” to China had not translated crocodile tears as this, we Chinese people now would not know that crocodiles are regarded as an evil image in western culture ． In view of the interrelationship between translating and cultural fusion ， the techniques employed to deal with semantic differences should also be associated with the degree of cultural fusion ． In one of the Chinese versions of the English novel Gone With the Wind ， the word nun is translated into “尼姑 ” . Thus not only the flavor of the source text is totally lost, but also do the Chinese readers feel ill at ease ． The translation “尼姑” maybe helps Chinese readers to know some characteristics of a nun, but a nun is different from “尼姑” fundamentally ． Nun belongs to the category of Christianity, while “尼姑” to Buddhism ． In the two cultures ， they are counterparts but not equivalences ． What ' s more important is that in fact ， people of today ' s China can accept words like “修女” or “ 修道院” due to the development of cultural intercourse in recent years ． In my opinion, it is quite OK to translate the word nun into “修女”， which preserves the style of the original and promotes cultural exchange ． The translation “尼姑 ” proper in the age of Mr. Yan Fu who translated Evolution and Ethics into ancient Chinese-style 《天演论》． But today it feels awkward and imprecise ． This is the role that cultural fusion plays in translating ． It is not enough for a translator to only have eyes on the two cultures themselves ， he should also on the interrelationship between them ． Translating itself is a complicated and dynamic activity with high degree of practicality ． The existence of translating theories doesn't mean that those theories could apply to all problems arising in translating ． As for dealing with semantic difference ， things are especially so ． To assert categorically to do like this or to do like that does not help ． Translating is translating meaning ． The fundamental intention of translating is to exchange between different languages and cultures ． The goal of successful exchange attained ， the specific techniques employed are not so important ． Semantic difference should be handled flexibly according to concrete conditions ． If there are some principles ， they are faithfulness ， acceptability and taking degree of cultural fusion into consideration. What remains to be pointed out is that when formal correspondence conflicts with the equivalence in terms of meaning ， priority should be given to the later to maintain the equivalence in meaning ． Cultural distinctions are now widely noticed ． As a trans-cultural communication ， translation is confronted with the challenge of cultural distinctions ， which must be overcome to transfer the meaning and even the spirit of the original ． The problems and examples about translating presented above are actually only a drop of the ocean ． It is not possible or necessary to bring the who1e ocean here ． The purpose of this paper is not to provide an overall direction for translation ． In fact ， even articles or books on translating cannot cover the vast scope of translating ． Translating is like arts and requires creativity ． Through analyzing only some of the semantic differences ， the paper is to promote the establishment of the cultural point of view toward translating and to evoke further research on this topic ． |
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